I'm trying as hard as I can to keep pushing the boundaries of what a woman is capable of doing. And it turns out there's a lot we can do. There's a lot we can speak about.
Rita MorenoRead
You see a script, and you say, 'Oh, I can play the heck out of that,' talk to your agent, and he says they don't want to see you. That's heartbreaking.
Interpretation
The quote expresses the disappointment of having talent and being eager to perform, but facing rejection.
Rita Moreno's quote captures the emotional turmoil that comes with the aspirations of performers. It highlights the clash between a performer’s confidence in their abilities and the harsh reality of the entertainment industry, where even the most talented individuals can face rejection and heartbreak, regardless of their skills or enthusiasm.
In practice
In a speech during an acting workshop to inspire aspiring actors.
I'm trying as hard as I can to keep pushing the boundaries of what a woman is capable of doing. And it turns out there's a lot we can do. There's a lot we can speak about.
No one's going to tell me how to make my own choices. For too many years, everybody told me what to say and what to do and how to be.
I started dancing almost before I could walk.
What musical performers bring to straight characterizations is that physical flexibility that comes with knowing your body so well. A lot of actors are terribly awkward. Terribly. And I think it's so important for them, when they're young, to work on their physical selves.
I've always had this image of this strong, sprightly person who is undaunted by anything; on the contrary, I was one of the shyest, most unsure people you ever met in your life. But I have one very specific quality: I'm plucky. I really am. I would say that's a perfect description of my personality.
I was determined that with perseverance and faith, at some point, someone would say, 'This girl has talent,' and would cast me in something meaningful.
My concern has always been to paint nudes as if they were some splendid fruit.
In documentary filmmaking, there's a tradition of telling stories about victims. We often do that from a very patronizing place, but mostly we do it from a very selfish place, to reassure ourselves that our lives are in sympathy and solidarity with the victims.
Music makes me high on stage, and that's the truth. It's like being almost addicted to music.
I suppose all fictional characters, especially in adventure or heroic fiction, at the end of the day are our dreams about ourselves. And sometimes they can be really revealing.
For years, I sort of would try to write a story that somehow fit the title. And I don't think it happened for maybe another four years that I actually thought of a story, the plot of a story that corresponded to that phrase.
All women's dresses, in every age and country, are merely variations on the eternal struggle between the admitted desire to dress and the unadmitted desire to undress.
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